NFL shifts times of doubleheader games

New York, NY -- The National Football League has shifted the start times for its Sunday doubleheader games.

Rather than 4:15 p.m. (ET), the second wave of doubleheader Sunday games on CBS and FOX will now start at 4:25 p.m. (ET). The 4:05 p.m. (ET) kickoff for games not on the doubleheader network will remain unchanged.

The NFL said it conducted research over the past three seasons and found that 44 games required part of the audience to be switched from the end of a 1 p.m. (ET) game to a mandatory doubleheader game kickoff. With a start time of just 10 minutes later, that number would have been reduced to only 15 games.

Approximately 40 games over the 2012 schedule will be impacted by the new start times.